Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
Malachi 1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Malachi 1:3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Malachi 1:4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
Malachi 1:5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.
Malachi 1:6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
The verse centers on "whereas", "edom", "saith", "impoverished", "return", "build", "desolate", and "places". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whereas" and "edom", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And I hated Esau and laid his..." into verse 5's "And your eyes shall see and ye...", so "whereas" and "edom" belong inside that flow. In Malachi context, the local focus is covenant faithfulness, priestly corruption, divine justice, and the coming day of the LORD.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "whereas" and "edom" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.